Is the Photon an Elementary Particle?

What Is An Elementary Particle ? by STEVEN WEINBERG

HEN A STRANGER, hearing that I am a physicist, asks me in what area of physics I work, I generally reply that I work on the theory of elementary particles. Giving this answer always makes me nervous. Suppose that the stranger should ask, “What is an elementary particle?” I would have to admit that no one really knows. Let me declare first of all that there is no difficulty in saying what is mea...

SUPERSYMMETRY IN PARTICLE PHYSICS An Elementary Introduction

Elementary particle physics: The origins

I. The Mists of Scotland S25 II. ‘‘Cosmic Rays Go Downward, Dr. Anderson’’ S25 III. On Making a Particle Take a Photograph of Itself S26 IV. The Slow Discovery of the Mesotron S27 V. The Mesotron is Not the Yukon S28 VI. ‘‘Even a Theoretician Might be Able To Do It’’ S28 VII. The Reservoir of Ideas Runneth Over S29 VIII. ‘‘There is No Excellent Beauty That Hath Not Some Strangeness in the Propo...

What is an elementary particle in the first-quantized Standard Model?

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the concept of an elementary particle in the first-quantized Standard Model. The emphasis is upon the mathematical structures involved, rather than numerical computations. After the general concepts and philosophical outlook are introduced in the opening section, Section 2 addresses the question of what a free elementary particle is, paying particular a...

Elementary Particle Physic